Wednesday, April 30, 2008

The Olympic flame is scheduled to arrive on 2nd May from Hong Kong by air and the touch relay will be held in Macau on 3rd May. Macao is the last stop of the Olympic torch relay outside the Chinese Mainland. A total of 120 bearers (36 were selected by the Central Government and the worldwide sponsors of the Olympic Games, Macau SAR government will invited 74 local athletes and civil servants, with 10 candidates from the open torch bearer selection program) will participate in the Macao-leg relay which covers the 20 kilometers route. The touch relay will begin and end at Macao's Fisherman's Wharf. The touch will pass to some of the Macau most famous scene and landmark includes the Ruins of St. Paul's and Senado Square, A-Ma Temple and Sai Van bridge.

Part of the relay will be carried out on a Dragon Boat at Sai Van Lake. This will be the first time ever that the Olympic touch is carried by Dragon Boat.

Thousands of supporters gathered in Macau on 3rd May as the Olympic torch was paraded through Fisherman's Wharf. The relay was started by chief executive Edmund Ho when he passed the torch to a martial arts athlete Leong Hong Man. Unfortunately, the relay was shortened to 27 kilometers due to the security reasons. But the relay went smoothly with no disruptions until the end.